It was the hardest collusion I had experienced in Basketball in a long time.   Jammed fingers, twisted ankles sure, but this was a knee to the ribs going up for a rebound.   After hitting the floor I realized the wind was gone,  I was gasping for air, and my side hurt.

Then I heard a lone voice:  Are you OK, do you have any medical conditions? …. Continued below.

³⁰In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. ³¹A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. ³²So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. ³³But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. ³⁴He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. ³⁵The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

³⁶“Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

We have to remember that Israel and Samaria did not get along.  Though they worshiped the same God they were bitter enemies.   To even talk to each other was often punished severely.   Much the same shock was shown when the disciples found Jesus talking to the Samaritan woman at the well.   The two groups hated each other so much they would not even use the well for water at the same time.

In the book Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard,  Willard talks about this parable and what the term Neighbor means, when Jesus is asked, “Who is my neighbor?”    Knowing what we do about Israel and Samaria we know that for the Samaritan to stop in view of the Priest and Levite, our “good Samaritan”/neighbor is not always who we expect them to be.  Willard goes on to explain that today we might say “Good Muslim” “Good Iraqi”… Etc, and it may extend in some circles to “Good Prostitute, Good Christian, even Good Homosexual”  Our neighbors are not just those people who share the same ideas and beliefs we do.  Being a part of God’s creation all people can be and are our neighbors.

…. I was sitting out the first game of ball, when he first walked in.  I had never met him before.  The first word I heard out of his mouth was the F word, and I quickly said “Could you please watch your language?” I admit I let the first impression sink in.  A bit later he introduced himself as Brandon.  As he shot around and warmed up to play ball, I took notice of the manner in how he carried himself, the way he talked, and his mannerisms.  I quickly made the assumption that he had some feminine qualities, honestly none of this bothered me really, and I treated him no different than any of the other guys there to play.  But in the back of my mind he was labeled.

Since we both had not played, the next game we ended up on the same team.  No problem, he could shoot well.   The game progressed along, and nothing out of the ordinary happened until…

Towards the end of the game one of the other guys on our team took and missed a shot,  going up for the rebound out of the corner of my eye I see Brandon coming in for the rebound also.   That is when the collusion happened.

It was the hardest collusion I had experienced in Basketball for a long time.   After hitting the floor I realized the wind was gone,  I was gasping for air, and my side hurt.  I laid there eyes closed

Then I heard a lone voice:  Are you OK, do you have any medical conditions? GASP I couldn’t speak.  “Are you ok? Just stay still”. GASP.   “Can you get up?  Through GASPing “I just need to catch my breath.” GASP. “

After couple minutes, I was ready to get up.  When I opened my eyes…There was Brandon, the only person to stay and make sure I was alright.

Did I mention where I play ball is at a church and most of the men around my age are Christians, yet none of them were there while I laid on the floor or to offer me a hand up.

Who was my neighbor?  GASP

We are all part of God’s creation, regardless of a persons choice to follow Christ or not.  We must love our neighbor as ourselves.  Even those we would never expect to be our neighbor.